NEW DELHI: The Delhi government on Sunday asked all schools in the city to submit a report on safety in their buildings within a month following the death of a six-year-old on a school’s premises here and stated that inspections would be carried out by officials to prevent recurrence of such incidents.
The Delhi government has also decided to form a task force to verify the arrangements, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said, even as it has ordered a magisterial probe into the incident that has sent shock waves across the city.
“We have asked principals of each school, be it government, MCD or private, to carry out a prima facie inspection and give us a report. As soon as we get the report, we will carry out an inspection based on their report. I will also get all 3,500 schools inspected in next one month through SDMs, fire department, PWD, DJB, education department and MCD,” Sisodia said.
Chairing an emergency meeting of the Education Department officials to review safety aspect for students in both government and private schools, Sisodia said the boy’s death had “shattered” everyone and that the team of government personnel will carry out inspection for an hour in each of the school buildings to ensure there is no repeat of the incident.
Divyansh Kakrora, a Class I student of Ryan International School in Vasant Kunj area of South Delhi, was found dead in a water tank under the school’s amphitheatre yesterday. The incident triggered demands for cancellation of the school’s licence.
“I suspect the school...When I asked the principal what happened, she shouted at me and asked me to keep quiet,” said the boy’s father R K Meena, though school principal Sandhya Sabu has rejected the allegation. She has described it as a freak accident and said the boy was a special child.